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Solomon Birch
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 Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 11:00 am Post subject: |
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Yup, staying put is most definately an option, especially now you suggested it Lebby! :biggrin: 
_________________
"Humankind cannot stand too much reality" - T.S. Elliot
Thesopholis - A Noir Sci-Fi Story - Chapter 8 is up! Read it here
The End of the Voyage - Chapter 9
Shady the Furry Goblin! [Demon's, Satan and Slobadan Milosevic!] - Chapter 3
The Quest for the Legendary Rubber-Duckie! - Chapter 3
One Last Bullet.... Chapter 3
Green Eyes - Chapter 5
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Araex
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| Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:48 am Post subject: |
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Another great chapter. I wonder what happened to our friend el Capitaine? Is he just drunk to the point of fortitude? Or something more macabre... *cue evil eyes*
For the moment I'll say we should go and look, but I'm reserving judgement for someone to say something convincingly persuasive.
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Solomon Birch
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| Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 1:37 pm Post subject: |
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Right, I'm going to Iceland tomorrow, and I'm away 'til tuesday, but keep posting you crazy bunch! :biggrin:
_________________
"Humankind cannot stand too much reality" - T.S. Elliot
Thesopholis - A Noir Sci-Fi Story - Chapter 8 is up! Read it here
The End of the Voyage - Chapter 9
Shady the Furry Goblin! [Demon's, Satan and Slobadan Milosevic!] - Chapter 3
The Quest for the Legendary Rubber-Duckie! - Chapter 3
One Last Bullet.... Chapter 3
Green Eyes - Chapter 5
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Solomon Birch
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| Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:43 am Post subject: |
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Right, last chance for commenting people, cos I'm gonna get the poll up tomorrow! :biggrin:
_________________
"Humankind cannot stand too much reality" - T.S. Elliot
Thesopholis - A Noir Sci-Fi Story - Chapter 8 is up! Read it here
The End of the Voyage - Chapter 9
Shady the Furry Goblin! [Demon's, Satan and Slobadan Milosevic!] - Chapter 3
The Quest for the Legendary Rubber-Duckie! - Chapter 3
One Last Bullet.... Chapter 3
Green Eyes - Chapter 5
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Solomon Birch
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| Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 6:24 am Post subject: |
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Right, sorry for the delay, but the poll is up now, so people can vote and then move onto the next chapter. Not long to go now! :biggrin:
_________________
"Humankind cannot stand too much reality" - T.S. Elliot
Thesopholis - A Noir Sci-Fi Story - Chapter 8 is up! Read it here
The End of the Voyage - Chapter 9
Shady the Furry Goblin! [Demon's, Satan and Slobadan Milosevic!] - Chapter 3
The Quest for the Legendary Rubber-Duckie! - Chapter 3
One Last Bullet.... Chapter 3
Green Eyes - Chapter 5
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Lebrenth
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| Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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Nice Poll, by the way. Well worded and without bias.
When are we expecting another chapter?
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Welcome To Purgatory - current storygame
Please visit my Library of completed works.
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Solomon Birch
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| Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:01 am Post subject: |
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Thanks Lebby. I'll see how the voting looks in a couple of days, and if it's very one sided I won't wait and I'll get started, as it feels like quite a while since I've done a chapter for this. :biggrin:
_________________
"Humankind cannot stand too much reality" - T.S. Elliot
Thesopholis - A Noir Sci-Fi Story - Chapter 8 is up! Read it here
The End of the Voyage - Chapter 9
Shady the Furry Goblin! [Demon's, Satan and Slobadan Milosevic!] - Chapter 3
The Quest for the Legendary Rubber-Duckie! - Chapter 3
One Last Bullet.... Chapter 3
Green Eyes - Chapter 5
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Solomon Birch
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Location: England..... but Japan beckons.....
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| Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 12:26 am Post subject: |
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Ok, I lied. I sat there for ages last night and tried to think of a way to extend it to at least 2 more chapters, but I thought that it wouldn't work, so here is the final chapter of (this part) the Voyage! I finished a SG! Love me! 
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The Voyage
Chapter Nine
As the ship lurched mournfully beneath my shaking legs, I decided that I could not just abandon Coleridge to his fate, nor could I leave when the maelstrom was raging so madly all around. Leaving would be cowardly and foolhardy. The savage wind was rocking the fragile lifeboats violently, and I was afraid one would tear loose and cruse me under its bulk. I moved away from the lifeboats on the side of the ship, and made my way toward the hatch leading back down into the depths of the cursed ship.
Another wave washed over the deck, sending torrents of water after me as I descended down into the black hall, fear and paranoia gnawing at my mind and soul, and infiltrating my interpretations of my surroundings. I saw faces of my family, of the crew, of the former captain, and faces from the darkest recesses of the human mind, creatures that had no decent reason to exist, whether in reality or not, whatever this was.
I managed to stay on my feet, however, and I began to feel my way along the wall. The movements of the ocean were uncomfortably apparent within the belly of the vessel; like the last painful thrashes of a dying bull upon the dusty sands of some roaring Spanish ring, and I felt my head begin to ache. I deeply regretted taking the laudanum, but forced any resignations out of my mind, trying desperately to focus on finding Coleridge and somewhere that would shield me from the worst rages of the tempest above.
Soon I felt my hands caress the jerking doors to the mess hall-turned mortuary. I shuddered as the image of the bodies of the unfortunate crew returned to plague my delirious mind, but I forced myself past them, heading for the Captain’s hall. I heard another foreboding swash roar down the steps to the hall, and I began to fear the worst. Coleridge had been right; I should have just left him and gotten away from the ship before it disappeared to the bottom of the vast ocean, consigned to be the grave of a dozen good men, and a hideous abomination that should never have existed.
The wind howled down from above, or at least what I hoped to God was the wind. I swallowed, trying to get rid of the raw lump of fear that pulsed angrily within my neck, but it achieved nothing. Forcing open the creaking doors to the dining room, I stumbled inside, completely oblivious to my surroundings. The darkness was absolute, which did little to help the already desperate situation. There seemed no hope, just an endless black night with no end in sight; filled with a howling that came from something just beyond comprehension, and the constant damp that pervaded every conceivable space.
A violent shudder shook me from my feet, and I tumbled to the floor, hard. Holding my hands out to break my fall, I felt them make contact with a relatively soft form that was most certainly not the water-clogged oak boards that encompassed the ships floor. It felt like a body, and, after picking myself up from the floor, I moved toward it to determine whether my morbid fear had any grounds within this tumultuous thing known as reality.
But when I apprehensively reached out a hand to feel for the form, I heard it utter a rasping cough.
“William, you fool. I told you to get away….” He trailed off, and began to weep to himself softly. This disturbing sound, that of a broken man who had lost all hope in the world was ended abruptly as another hacking cough tore through his chest.
As the feeling of despair began to creep upon me, I broke the near-silence and asked
“Are... are you hurt Coleridge? Why did I hear a shot? Did you find that…” He cut me off.
“It took my legs William. My legs! I tried to run, but I wasn’t fast enough… I… I feel faint. Can’t remember much. But… you must get away you young fool. Get above decks. This storm will not end until it has dispatched this foul ship to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, where it belongs. You can’t help me now… it took my legs.”
The last few words that I heard Coleridge utter were marred by painful coughs which echoed around the sightless room, returning each time sounding more haunted and mournful than before. Though I could not see his face, I could feel the tears rolling down his paling cheeks, and felt the sticky mess oozing from the lower half of his torso. I bit back a sob, and was about to answer when I heard a cry that began as a low moan, but soon rose to a shrieking cacophony that split my skull asunder and brought back all the grotesque horrors that had assailed me constantly while aboard this god-forsaken hulk. The low cry I had not heard since my first night aboard the ship, and was perhaps the most disturbing of all. That hideous moan, that of a malevolent child, had haunted my dreams, and now had returned to find me.
Thundering footsteps began to echo from the direction of the kitchens and storerooms, and terror clutched at my heart. I stood up frantically and began to search for the doors leading back to the hallway. Shamefully, as I later thought, I spared no thought for the ailing Coleridge, but the sinister sound of the approaching creature assaulted the last vestiges of sanity that remained within my tortured mind, and my only desire was to escape that place, get away from the ship. Away from the nightmares that came to life, leering from the twisting walls, cruelly snatching away the lives of those around me. But not me, I thought sombrely; I still survived.
With this thought in my mind, I found the doors that were lurching to and fro with the motion of the dying vessel, and fell through them. Stumbling along the hall, the floor now awash with the freezing seawater, I tried to move toward the stairs. But through the seawater, I kept stumbling over objects which I could not see or perceive. Once, I fell headfirst over a large thing, my face plunging into the saltwater. I stood, spluttering and disorientated, but I heard the footsteps close behind and I did not pause to see what had blocked my path, though the darkness would never have allowed for such eye-opening clarity when it was trying so hard to do away with me. Even for you boy; there are things that lurk within the shadows that want to see you fail, see you fall, though you are fortunately shielded from the worst of their diabolic powers.
I, unfortunately, was not. Am not. Either it was my mind slipping away even further, or the shadows really were closing in; as malicious, twisted faces peered out from the corners of my vision, and the footsteps grew ever-louder, ever-nearer. But I could see the faint illumination the moonlight was casting down the stairs, and it gave a small vestige of hope, however remote. I plunged forward, trying my hardest to ignore the faces and the footsteps, the angry wail from behind, and the ever-present howl of the wind, roaring above it all, bearing down upon my broken form with all the ferocity of a thousand doomed souls crying out in anguish and abject-fear.
When my shaking hands clasped the bottom step of the staircase, I almost broke down with relief. I forced myself upwards, clasping one rung at a time, not pausing until I had reached the top. I clambered over the threshold and collapsed a few feet onto the deck. The rain lashed down upon my sobbing face, and the wind whipped my hair into my eyes, but the moon was shining at its fullest, and I could see once again. I stood, though almost fell again as the ship plunged horrifyingly to the left. For a moment I feared that a wave had finally toppled the ship, but it stopped short of lurching completely over, and I made my way toward the upper-deck. A tremendous flash of electricity tore across the heavens, splitting the sky asunder for a mere second, and sending a deafening boom resounding off every wave, which came back and screamed into my ears five, six times before retreating. I stopped and stared in awe at the display of power, and cackled manically at the thought of such unfathomable forces which raged all around, answerable to none, save the Lord God himself.
I battled across the deck and made my way to the cabins at the top. The wind and the rain tried desperately to throw me to the floor, but I did not relent. I had decided not to let this ship consume me, not let this nightmare win. The wheel was spinning madly; with no one to guide it the ship was sending itself to the confines of the watery hell below, but I no longer cared. All thoughts of Coleridge and his warnings were forgotten, and I had but one thing left to do.
The corridor was as dark as the jet stone my mother wore at my father’s funeral. No, darker. Much darker. Hers’ was polished to a gleaming sheen, while this was lustreless and thick. I forced my way inside nonetheless, and swallowing again, made my way toward the Room that had begun all the troubles. If it had started the mess that had brought all the ruin and misery to that Voyage, then it must be able to undo what it had done.
I know that those are undoubtedly the thoughts of a madman, but you will forgive me if I state in my defence, in anyone’s defence, that few in my situation would have thought things through clearly. I had imperceptibly linked my unnerving encounter with the rocking figure in the Room to all the other occurrences on the ship, and I do not believe you would disagree that this was a justified move when all other directions of thought had seemed to be exhausted. But, I digress. As I was saying…
I pushed the door inward, the determination within me doing nothing to dispel the terror that that place instilled inside my booming heart, and I was met with the low glow a candle set upon the hutch, across from a radiant door. No rocking figure, no crying child, but a door illuminated at the edges, as if someone was shining a powerful lamp at it from behind, or, if you forgive an old man his superstitions; the warming light that one often associates with heavenly beings. After all the darkness and fear, it certainly brokered a hope that had been sorely lacking for too long.
With the howling wind behind me, and the warming light seeping under the door set into the back wall of the cramped cabin, I approached and pushed at it. It gave, and opened outwards…
But I think that that may be enough for today, lad. I can hear the doctor’s boots clacking toward us on the flagstones as we speak, and I know our time is up. I’m tired, and am sure that you are equally exhausted. We shall continue another day, as my tale is far from finished. Speak with the doctor to arrange another visit. It has been so long since another has listened so intently to my story, at least without thoughts of lobotomy or corrective burn treatment. Good day to you lad, and god-speed. Don’t be afraid; lest your dreams take heed and grow bold in their thoughts and actions. And I think we both know what happens when they do that, don’t we?
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The Voyage's story will continue, but it will be very different, and it will be a while before I start the next part, as I want to try out some other ideas in the meantime, as well as finish some of my other current story's (I for one found that having this many reduced how often everything was updated, and I apologise for that). I hope everyone enjoyed this part, and that they look forward to it continuing! :biggrin:
_________________
"Humankind cannot stand too much reality" - T.S. Elliot
Thesopholis - A Noir Sci-Fi Story - Chapter 8 is up! Read it here
The End of the Voyage - Chapter 9
Shady the Furry Goblin! [Demon's, Satan and Slobadan Milosevic!] - Chapter 3
The Quest for the Legendary Rubber-Duckie! - Chapter 3
One Last Bullet.... Chapter 3
Green Eyes - Chapter 5
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Shady Stoat
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| Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 12:45 am Post subject: |
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*blinks* Wow! That was mysterious!
I do hope you return to the story. I hate leaving a tale on parenthises... and I'd love to know what happens next.
Very good atmospherics there, Soily. Thoroughly enjoyable, and you've finished your first part of your first storygame. Woo! Bravo! Kudos! All that jazz!
(not to mention avoiding the taxman's fines)
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Solomon Birch
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| Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:00 am Post subject: |
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Don't worry Ms Stoat; nought but death will keep my from finishing my flagship IF tale, and I'm glad you liked it!
_________________
"Humankind cannot stand too much reality" - T.S. Elliot
Thesopholis - A Noir Sci-Fi Story - Chapter 8 is up! Read it here
The End of the Voyage - Chapter 9
Shady the Furry Goblin! [Demon's, Satan and Slobadan Milosevic!] - Chapter 3
The Quest for the Legendary Rubber-Duckie! - Chapter 3
One Last Bullet.... Chapter 3
Green Eyes - Chapter 5
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dragon_fire372
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| Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, that was sudden. You have a real knack for helping the reader see what the characters do. Looking forward to the next part!
BTW, will it be continued under a name like The Voyage, Part Two, or will it have a different sort of name? I don't want to accidently miss it whenever it gets put up.
Anyway, congrats on a (sort of) finished story!
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Sans Dieu Rien Without God, Nothing
Visions of Shadow - 2nd part of Uncertain Quests! Chapter Two
Dreamwalker - Relocated to Linear Lane Sixth Chapter
Linear Story Nightrobber Now Complete!
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Araex
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| Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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I HATE YOU! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO US!
Grrr.
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Lebrenth
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| Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:27 am Post subject: |
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The story yearns for completion! You're hapless protagonist will be recieving another visit soon, I hope. His descriptions are truly inspired by madness, which is naturally why we're all so drawn to it!
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Ingrothechundyer
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| Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Nice ending to part one. Looking foward to part 2.
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